Geely Xingyuan Takes Top Spot in China! — April 2025 Sales Report

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BEVs represented close to a third of the total Chinese car market in March.

April saw the continuation of the never ending growth of the Chinese EV market, with plugins scoring over 900,000 units in April (in a 1.8-million-unit overall market). They grew over 30% YoY, a positive outcome in a total market that expanded 17% YoY.

Digging deeper into the numbers, BEVs were the fastest growing technology, going up by 38% to 559,000 units, or 62% of plugin sales, while PHEVs grew 26% YoY (28% share of plugins) and EREVs grew 33% (10%).

This pulls the year-to-date (YTD) tally to over 3.3 million units. So, we should see plugins end the year well above 10 million units. In China alone….

Share-wise, April saw plugin vehicles reaching 52%! Full electrics (BEVs) alone accounted for 32% of the country’s total passenger auto sales.

This good result in April kept the 2025 share at 48%. BEVs were also stable on their own, at 30%. Expect to see plugins at 50% and BEVs at around 33% at the end of the first half of the year.

(Could China finish the year above 60%?)

In the overall ranking, unlike in March, when they had just two representatives, ICE models managed to have three spots in the top 10, with the best placed being the Nissan Lavida in 7th.

In a top 10 with no Teslas, the surprise is the the Geely Xingyuan’s rise into the leadership spots, with the small hatchback beating a tired BYD Song, down 36% YoY, and its somehow direct competitor, the #3 BYD Seagull.

Speaking of tired models, it wasn’t unnoticed that the sales of the other bread and butter model from BYD, the Qin Plus, are also falling hard, with the sedan seeing its deliveries fall by 45% YoY.

Troubles in paradise? Or is this just a case of too much internal competition? True, on one hand it is good that BYD has a complete lineup, with competitive models in every market segment, but on the other hand…. Does it need so many models? I mean, just looking at the midsize sedan market, it has five models playing there (Qin Plus — BEV & PHEV, BYD Qin L — BEV & PHEV, Seal 06 — BEV & PHEV, the regular Seal BEV, and the new fleet friendly e7 BEV), or six if you also count the Seal 06 GT hatchback!

Couldn’t they trim this mish-mash of models into a more coherent lineup?

Something like: e7 for fleets, Qin for PHEVs, and Seal 06 for BEVs… with the Seal 06 GT as a hatchback derivative. The Dynasty lineup would mean PHEVs and a more conservative design, while the Ocean lineup would be BEV only and a more streamlined design.

This way people would know what each model stands for. And it would also make life easier for the people doing reports on BYD…. After all, they would only need to report on 40 models, instead of 400…. End of rant.

Interestingly, there were representatives from four different brands in the top 5. A good sign of diversity for the future?

Looking at the best sellers in several size categories, all but the C segment (compact cars) have plugins leading the way. In fact, the C segment saw a 100% ICE podium, a rarity these days.

In all other categories, they were either absent or the minority. This is a recurring topic, as it seems that the C segment is the hardest of all to convert into EVs. Looking at the bright side of this, it means that models like the Xpeng Mona M03, BYD Sealion 05, and Geely Galaxy E5 have plenty of room to grow….

The biggest surprise was the 100% BYD podium in the midsize category, a feat in itself. BYD alone has 10 midsize models in its lineup.

Another topic to highlight is the domination that the Geely Xingyuan and Xiaomi SU7 are having in their respective categories, with the small hatchback and the sports sedan more than doubling the sales of their category runner-up models.

Here’s more info and commentary on April’s top selling electric models:

#1 — Geely Geome Xingyuan

A BYD Dolphin for BYD Seagull money. This was the formula that finally made a Geely model beat the BYD competition. As well as the rest of the competition. And this April, it even allowed it to win the best sellers trophy in China. Besides the killer price, all the support that comes from a leading OEM like Geely doesn’t hurt, as well as a rounded, sensible design — somewhere between a Wuling Bingo and a Smart #3. Starting with an 80,000 CNY (+/-$11,000) price, the buyer gets a 30 kWh LFP battery from CATL, which is nothing to write home about until you realise that its price places it closer to the BYD Seagull (70,000 CNY for the 30 kWh version) than the BYD Dolphin (100,000 CNY). In April, the Geely model hit 36,119 registrations, its fourth record score in a row. Exports? Surely that is in the cards. But first they will need to finish the production ramp-up in order to satisfy its internal market.

#2 — BYD Song (BEV+PHEV)

BYD’s midsize SUV lost its best seller status again, scoring 34,931 registrations, a steep 36% drop YoY. It seems the veteran model (six years is an eternity in China) is close to its expiration date in its domestic automotive market, so while the 2025 Best Seller title is still a strong possibility, 2026 should see it pass the ceptre to a different model. A competitive price can only get you so far, and with an increasingly competitive market, BYD’s midsize SUV will need a significant improvement if it wants to continue clocking 40,000–50,000 sales/month, a necessary threshold to continue leading the cutthroat Chinese auto market.

#3 — BYD Seagull

Things continue to go well for the hatchback model, with the small EV securing another podium presence thanks to 34,005 registrations, an 18% improvement YoY. With part of production now being diverted to export markets (and the model about to land in Europe in the coming weeks), it seems demand for the little Lambo is now at cruising speed in China. The perky EV is now podium worthy. Even with its attention now diverted to other geographies, like Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, expect the little BYD to continue being part of the BYD pack that populates the Chinese top 10.

#4 — Wuling Mini EV 

The 2021 best selling EV in China is back in form, thanks to a refresh, and above all, a new 5-door version. This allowed the small city car to reach 28,990 registrations in April, more than doubling its result YoY. So, it seems the tiny EV is back to its good old days, which makes you wonder … is 2025 the year that the Mini EV will win its second best seller trophy? With the BYD Song tired of winning, the Tesla Model Y suffering from multiple problems, the BYD Seagull with its attention split between its home market and overseas markets, and the Xiaomi SU7 soon suffering from the internal competition of its YU7 crossover sibling, only the Geely Xingyuan could stand in the way for the tiny EV to win its second title. With the price of the 5-door version starting at 45,000 CNY ($6,200), it continues to be one of the cheapest in its category. And this time it’s not too bare bones, as it has a 16 kWh LFP battery, supports DC charging, and includes stuff like air conditioning and remote control via mobile phone.

#5 — Xiaomi SU7

The poster child of the Chinese EV market joined the top 5 in April, thanks to 28,585 registrations last month, or three times as many as the same month last year. That means that it was the best selling sedan in China, all powertrains counted. With a Porsche Taycan–like design, but for Tesla Model 3 money, the one-year-old EV success allows it to still hold a waiting list exceeding 6 months, something that its more direct competitors can only dream of. But — the SU7 is still the make’s warning shot, as the upcoming YU7 crossover is expected to be the goose that lays the golden eggs, benefitting from the more popular crossover body in the same way as the Tesla Model Y is a much bigger seller than the Model 3, or the VW ID.4 outsells the ID.3.

Looking at the rest of the best seller table, the highlight is the BYD Sealion 05, joining the table for the first time at #14, thanks to a record 12,305 sales. The new compact crossover could possibly become the next leader in the compact category. And plugins really need a sales champ in that category, in order to end the ICE domination in the compact category.

Another sedan liftback to shine was Xpeng’s Mona M03. Thanks to 16,593 registrations, it has beaten its personal best for the second month in a row. Considering the current weakness of the EV team in the C-class category, I am rooting for the startup model to rise even further in the charts, so that we can remove those pesky ICE models from the compact category leadership platform. Will it be able to run at 20,000 units per month?

Despite now having to deal with the landing of its highly anticipated successor, the BYD Han L, the one with 1,000 hp and megawatt-scale charging, the veteran BYD Han (launched all the way back in … 2020) still managed to end the month at #17. It was the second best selling full size model, only behind the Xiaomi SU7 superstar. With the Han L landing with a significant 3,505 registrations in April, how will BYD handle these two? Will they coexist, a la Song vs. Song L? Or will the new generation fully replace the older one?

Speaking of landing months, outside the top 20, we had a few significant models debuting in April. Besides the aforementioned BYD Han L, its SUV sibling, the Tang L, also started its career, with a strong 5,229 registrations. Still in the BYD Galaxy, the Fangchengbao Tai 3 compact SUV also landed in April, with 3,048 units, providing much needed volume for BYD’s specialist focussed brand.

Elsewhere, we should also highlight the landing of the Avatr 06 midsize sedan, with a significant 4,965 units. This could be a good sign for Changan’s premium brand, which has been struggling to find success with its current model lineup.

As for existing models, the Xpeng G6 had its best month in China since December 2023, thanks to a recent refresh. It scored 5,485 deliveries. Funny enough, while the midsize crossover is the startup’s star player in Europe, in its domestic market, it plays second fiddle to the current key players, the Mona M03 and P7+. Come on Xpeng, don’t be stingy — send these two over to Europe.

Finally, a mention goes out to the Denza N9. The full size SUV is already showing up on the radar, scoring 5,018 deliveries in only its second month on the market.

The 20 Best Selling Electric Vehicles in China — January–April 2024

Looking at the 2025 ranking, this time there is really not much to say. The leading BYD Song is ahead of the competition, followed by the Geely Xingyuan and Wuling Mini EV.

The big event of the month was a particularly bad month for the Tesla Model Y. With fewer than 20,000 deliveries in April, it was down 24% YoY, leading it to lose two positions in the YTD table. In the end, it fell to 6th.

Still, it is possible that June might pull it back to 3rd, but considering the odds, I would say that 2025 could be the first year since 2019 that we won’t see any Tesla on the Chinese podium at the end of the year.

Funny enough, the Tesla Model 3 managed to keep its position in 9th, even if the four immediate models behind it are fewer than 1,000 units behind.

In the second half of the table, there was just minor movement, with the Geely Panda Mini climbing one position to #12.

Stay tuned. Next up, we’ll report on the top selling EV brands and auto groups.